Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions

"The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions supports the
demands of the people's revolution and calls for a general strike of
Egyptian workers", reads a banner at an anti-Mubarak demonstration in Tahrir Square. Photo by Hossam
el-Hamalawy.

By Joel Beinin

August 23, 2013 -- Middle East Research and Information Project -- The independent labour movement that has flourished in Egypt since the
ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak enthusiastically supported the
Tamarrud (Rebel) campaign for the huge June 30 demonstrations asserting
a popular vote of no confidence in President Mohammad Morsi.

The Center
for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS), Egypt’s most experienced
(and during the 1990s only) labour-oriented NGO, claims to have gathered
200,000 signatures for the Tamarrud petition through its six regional
offices. Three independent trade union organisations -- the Egyptian
Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), the Egyptian Democratic
Labor Congress (EDLC) and the Permanent Congress of Alexandria Workers
(PCAW) -- also collected signatures and monitored workers’ participation
in the demonstrations.

July 27, 2013 -- Jadaliyya -- Since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has become a
battlefield of narratives. Each narrative has sought to appropriate and
define the January 25 Revolution.

November 25, 2012 -- MENA -- The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU) issued this statement rejecting the Consitutional Declaration announced by President Mohamed Morsi
and calling on workers to mobilise against the decree. Mass
demonstrations have been called by opposition groups in protest at
Morsi’s announcement.

* * *

Dear Brother and sister workers,

When we heard about the Constitutional Declaration issued by
President Mohamed Morsi on 21 November, all of us starting asking our
colleagues:

“What has this declaration got to do with us?” “Will it be useful for us, or against our interests?”

Let’s look together at what is in the declaration, and what the
president said in his speech in front of the Ittihadiyya Palace in front
of his supporters.

The following profile of the left-wing Revolution Continues electoral alliance was published in the Egyptian weekly newspaper Ahram Online and Jadilayya. After considering suspending its participation in the November 28-December 5, 2011, Egyptian election, the alliance decided to resume its campaign.

Statement by Revolutionary Socialists (Egypt): Glory to the martyrs of Bloody Sunday. Shame on the military and the reactionaries

October 10, 2011 -- The
Revolutionary Socialists send sincere condolences to the families of
the peaceful demonstrators who were murdered by the bullets of the
Central Security Forces and crushed by the military’s armoured cars
after they came on the night of October 9 to defend the right of Coptic
Christians to freedom and equality.